By: Nichole Davari | 2021 Vice President, Board of Directors

Warm weather, decorated caps and diplomas in hands, graduation season is my favorite time of year. No matter how many times I see them, each emotional video or walk across the stage brings me joy. 

Whether it be high school, college or kindergarten there is a cross-cultural shared pride in the accomplishment of the students you are cheering on.But the next steps can look drastically different if you are an undocumented senior in high school wanting to go to college. 

College is expensive. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Recent data shows that 86.4% of college freshmen in the United States utilize some form of financial aid to pay their tuition. Financial aid is a lifeline for the vast majority of undergraduates, as the percentage of those relying on federal aid continues to rise. 

To secure the financial aid you need, you need a profile like Metro Nashville Public School graduate Marcos*. Marcos has a 4.23 GPA, holds multiple student leadership roles and was accepted to 7 different universities. But Marcos will get zero federal aid despite being one of the top students in his class because Marcos is what an undocumented student looks like.

Marcos came to the United States at age 11 by no choice of his own, fleeing Honduras for safety and educational opportunity. His 12th birthday was spent in a detention center with his single mom. His birthday wish: something better. 

Little did Marcos know, he would overcome all life handed to him at a young age and grow into a promising young man with an extremely bright future -- only to struggle again to see his dreams become a reality with little access to financial aid.

Undocumented students in Tennessee, despite many graduating from the public school system, are completely ineligible for federal aid. When applying to a public university, students who have lived in Tennessee for as long as they can remember, but immigrated when they were months old, are deemed international or out-of-state and often acquire a tuition bill nearly three times as much as in-state students. As a result undocumented students gravitate toward private universities, but these too come with a high price tag. 

Programs like YMCA Latino Achievers and Equal Chance for Education support Nashville’s undocumented students in their journey to securing the funds they need to pursue higher education as it isn’t just the federal government that has created barriers for these individuals. Many private scholarships require proof of legal residency or a completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to apply. 

Since 2012 there have been statewide efforts to pass a law that would grant Tennessee’s undocumented students the opportunity to pay in-state tuition rates. Just three years after launching the campaign led by the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), the bill came within one vote of passing in one of the country’s most conservative legislatures. 

We know that tuition equality is possible because currently 22 states have in place some form of policy that improves access to in-state tuition rates, regardless of immigration status. 

High school seniors like Marcos have a much more winding path to college than the majority of his classmates, but the challenge of attaining a higher education degree for an undocumented student is not insurmountable. 

Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors aims to educate on the immigrant experience and positively influence narrative around this issue. And Marcos? He will be majoring in public policy to create the change he wishes to see.

* Names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.